Organic Taste Makers and Marketing Costs

As far back as, gasp, 2005 and 2006, some had predicted the influence of the New Media Tastemakers. John Borland of CNET News.com wrote about the organic quality of the trend:

Like the Web itself, the impact of such grassroots opinions has grown geometrically to change the way hits are made in movies, music and television. Their significance goes far beyond the realm of entertainment, fundamentally recasting the way opinions are shaped in a society whose sensibilities have been saturated by mass-media campaigns for generations.


The undeniable influence of these organic taste makers has been made possible by the rise of blogs, tags, collaborative bookmarks and other so-called social technologies that are fulfilling some of the utopian objectives espoused in the early days of the Internet, when it was hoped that the Web would empower the individual and dismantle communication barriers across the globe. Many of those altruistic goals were vastly overshadowed by mass commercialization. But, in the years since the dot-com meltdown, they’ve been resurrected with a new generation of digerati who are developing and exploiting the social aspects of the medium.

Buying Mini-Vineyards

The Wall Street Journal talks about what could be a great compromise between being a winemaker, a tourist, and going to Crushpad: Mini-Vineyards

Mr. Abihaggle isn’t overseeing the construction of a luxury polo estate; he’s the project manager of the 2,000-acre Santa María de los Andes, a development that sells parcels of small, ready-made vineyards.

While an acre of good vineyard land in California’s Napa Valley can go for $50,000 to $300,000, an acre of Mendoza land runs from $4,000 to $16,000, says Juan Carlos Pina, manager of the Bodegas de Argentina, a winery trade group.

Buyers are unlikely to make money simply by growing grapes and trying to sell them to winemakers, says David English, an American real-estate scout whose Mendoza-based company, English & Associates, has placed clients in the Los Amigos, Armani and Vines of Mendoza projects. “Being a grape farmer is not a moneymaking proposition. People make money by making wine and selling it overseas,” says Mr. English. “People purchase at these projects because they want a turnkey solution and don’t want to make a lot of decisions. And they pay a premium for it.”

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Speaker Bio: Brian Sugar, Sugar Inc.

Brian Sugar, Sugar Inc.

As CEO & Publisher, Brian Sugar sets the overall direction for Sugar Inc. Prior to founding Sugar Inc., Brian served first as Vice President of Marketing then as Vice President & General Manager of 2Wire, Inc.’s media business unit. Before joining 2Wire, Brian was founder and CEO of Sugar Media, a digital media software company, which was acquired by 2Wire in October 2003. Brian was Chief Web Officer at Kmart’s BlueLight.com, Vice President of eCommerce at J.Crew, and a founder of Neptune Interactive, a Washington, DC-based ISP.

Latest Sugar news:

Sugar Inc. starts two UK sites

SAN FRANCISCO – March 25, 2008 – Almost two years after Sugar Inc.’s launch of the Sugar Network, the company is crossing the pond to expand its lifestyle and entertainment network in the United Kingdom, introducing British versions of its most widely-read sites, PopSugar.com and FabSugar.com. The expansion marks the company’s first overseas venture

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Local Online TV Ad Spending in the Billions in 2008


PaidContent reports on a study by Borrell Associates that online advertising for local TV stations will be up by 45% this year. But it also says that there’s a ton of unsold commercial spot inventory available, and that’s going to mean some issues for the television industry, such as:

— Ending convergence: In a study on local online advertising in November, Borrell argued that bundling traditional and non-traditional media under one ad sales team had a dampening effect on the growth on internet revenues. Looking only at local TV, Borrell finds that most are adding online-only sales reps in an effort to sell a growing stable of unsold web inventory. The report finds these sales teams have their work cut out for them: “Nearly three-fourths of all TV site inventory is unsold. Looking ahead, TV sites should continue to gain share this year in most markets, topping $1.1 billion in online ad revenue overall.” Additionally, it helps to keep in mind that digital ventures remain a small piece of the broadcast TV puzzle; it’s barely 3 percent of most stations’ total revenues, leaving many station managers to doubt the wisdom of adding online resources.

— Revenues vary: Borrell also benchmarks stations against TV households. The range for internet revenue per TV household was 36 cents for large markets, up to $1.28 for small markets. While it may be an easy-to-grasp benchmark for television operators, Borrell said it is generally irrelevant because the reach of the internet extends well beyond a stations’ broadcast signal. That said, not all sites are created equal. In large markets, several stations were making more than $3 million in online-only revenues, while others were pulling in less than $500,000. In a market where one station was making more than $4 million, a competitor in the same market was making $1.4 million, while three others were making less than $500,000 each. In the smallest markets, a handful of stations were generating more than $1 million, while their peers were laboring in the $100,000 to $200,000 range.

Speaker Bio: Azhar Khan, Like.com

Azhar Khan, Like.com

Azhar Khan is Cofounder and VP of Engineering and Merchant Operations at Like.com. Like.com’s photo and visual similarity technology has revolutionize the way we search and shop for fashion items on the the web.

An entrepreneur by nature he has started several companies in Silicon Valley, all very successful. Besides his entrepreneurial endeavors he has worked at Autodesk, Virage Logic, Citadon and BuildOnline in UK and India.

Azhar completed his Bachelors in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University and Masters in Business Management from Stanford Business School where he was a Sloan Fellow.

Only Five More Weeks Until the New Media Tastemakers Summit

We’ve entered countdown phase for the first ever New Media Tastemakers Summit on May 2nd. Only 5 weeks to go, and what a great lineup of speakers and partners:


Over twenty high-profile companies will be expert speakers and panelists, including:

Kickapps
YouTube
Yelp
Turnhere
SFStation /Boulevard Networks
Burst Media / CD Kitchen
Like.com
Yahoo
Intercasting Corp
The Sugar Network
Foodbuzz
Fashiontribes
TasteTV